Ministry of Mines
61st Central Geological Programming Board  Meeting of Geological Survey of India  to be Held in New Delhi
GSI Formulates about 983 Scientific Program for 2022-23
The 61st Central Geological Programming Board  meeting organized by Geological Survey of India  under the Ministry of Mines will be held here on 24th March 2022 at NASC Complex, ICAR, Pusa. Union Minister of Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi will be the Chief Guest and Minister of State for Coal, Mines and Railways Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve will be the guest of honour.
Senior officers of Ministry of Mines, Geological Survey of India , members from other Central Ministries, State Directorates of Mining and Geology, representatives from private mining industry, PSUs, Mining associations and other stakeholders will be participating in the meeting. During the one-day meeting, review of follow-up action on the Agenda items of 60th CGPB meeting as well as the new agenda items proposed by the stake holders will be discussed by the Board. Field Season Proposals of GSI for the year 2022-23 will be placed before the Board for discussion.
GSI has formulated about 983 scientific programs for the year 2022-23, which includes 250 programs under mineral exploration including 14 marine mineral investigation programs. Thrust has been given on the exploration of strategic - critical and fertilizer minerals. A total of 106 projects on strategic & critical minerals including 20 projects on fertilizer minerals have been proposed for the year 2022-23. About 100 programs having high socio-economic impact have been proposed under Public Good Geosciences. Last year, during 2021-22, GSI implemented 979 programs, which included 251 programs under mineral exploration including 11 marine mineral investigation programs and 106 programs under Public Good Geosciences.
During the forthcoming year of 2022-23, out of 983 projects, GSI is going to take up 32 programmes at the request of State Governments; 12 programmes in collaboration with national institutes, organisations, IITs etc.; 4 sponsored training courses will be taken up with ISRO and MoEA and there will be 20 sponsored geotechnical projects with various stakeholders like NWDA, CWC, NHPC, Indian Railways, State Irrigation Departments, BRO etc. The finalization of programs will take into consideration the priorities and importance set forth by the Government of India through its various policy decisions and also on the basis of the recommendations of CGPB Committees’ and State Geological Programming Board  meetings.
Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi will hand over seven resource bearing geological reports  of commodities like copper, bauxite, potash, limestone and iron & manganese to the representatives of the respective state DGMs of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Along with this, potential G4 mineral blocks, for auction as Composite License will be handed over to the respective state representatives of 11 states. These potential blocks consist of mineral commodities like base metal, bauxite, phosphorite, gypsum, limestone, graphite, gold, nickel, chromium, iron, manganese, PGE and diamond. A few publications and a video on “Marine Mineral Exploration by GSI” will be released during the meeting.
The Central Geological Programming Board  is an important platform of the Geological Survey of India , Ministry of Mines wherein the Annual Field Season Program  of GSI is placed for discussion and to avoid duplication of work. The members of CGPB and other stakeholders like State Governments, Central/ State Government Mineral Exploration Agencies, PSUs and Private Entrepreneurs place their requests for collaborative work with GSI. Based on the priorities set by the Government of India and the importance and urgency of proposals presented by the members and stakeholders, the Annual Programme of GSI for survey & mapping, exploration, Research and Development, multidisciplinary catering to societal projects and training & capacity building programmes during the forthcoming financial year is given a final shape after due discussion and deliberations held at the topmost level at CGPB meeting, chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Mines.